The Aftermath
by GatorgirlFL16
Summary: I have always hated the stars. They are free from having to carry the burdens of pain and suffering that engulf there every waking hour. Stars are free and they are able to live out their lives in peace… but I…I am not so lucky. My name is Nico Di Angelo and this is the story of what happened after Percy Jackson was killed by Kronos. Rated T for violence gore;
1. Dark memories

**Hey guys new story but this is only my second full fanfic, I'm not going to give up on my other story between Nico and Rose, but I might be doing this at the same time, anyways hope you enjoy. :P**

I have always hated the stars. Every night I see them glittering in the inky blackness of the sky, free, and I envy them. They are free from having to carry the burdens of pain and suffering that engulf there every waking hour. They have never had to lay their head down at night and have their dreams filled with horrific memories of their friends and family being tortured and killed in front of their eyes and being unable to do anything to help them. Their ears are not filled with the screams of ones they love and their bodies do not carry the scars of endless hours of torture. Stars are free and they are able to live out their lives in peace… but I…I am not so lucky. My name is Nico Di Angelo and this is the story of what happened after Percy Jackson was killed by Kronos.

(0-0-0-0-0-0-0)

My feet pound on the pavement of the broken city streets. My breath comes out hard and fast as I sprint towards the safety of the forest. I will never let Kronos catch me, I will never go back to the horrors of his sick and twisted prison for rouge demigods ever again.

The tree line is only a hundred yards in front of me when I feel a whip wrap around my left ankle. I slam onto the ground and choke back a scream as I feel hydra acid sear into my flesh. I hear the cackling of an empousa behind me and I pull out my stygian iron sword form its sheath. I quickly sever the cord and it falls from my ankle, but not before it did some serious damage. My whole left leg feels like it's on fire but I grit my teeth and try to keep running despite the pain. Ninety yards until the forest.

I hobble along as fast as I can but I'm not fast enough. The empousa rakes her claws across my back and I fall to the ground once again. She hisses at me like a snake that has just caught her prey.

"At last, I have finally caught the elusive Nico Di Angelo." She smiles at me with her fangs sharp as needles poking out over her lips.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

My body is engulfed in shadows and I fall through the ground into darkness with the empousa hissing in frustration and anger behind me.

Once I'm out of the shadows the adrenaline that was pumping though my body vanishes and I feel the full force of the injuries. The claw marks sting badly but thankfully they aren't as deep as I first thought. My leg was another story.

I slowly lift the pant leg of my black jeans so I can see the swollen, red and green mess that used to be my left ankle. The whip left a deep gash around my entire ankle that was now bleeding profusely and a horrific green and yellow puss leaks out of the infected wound. My brain didn't register the pain but I knew that I had to get back to my makeshift camp before the poison got any farther into my blood stream.

I try standing up and walking but my ankle gives under my weight and I fall to the forest floor cursing Kronos. "Well I guess shadow traveling it is." I say bitterly and I begin to fall into the shadows once again.

(0-0-0-0-0-0-0)

My camp is still exactly how I left it. Materials for a fire plied up in the center with my duffle bag lying under a tree unopened. I collapse under the tree from exhaustion. My eyelids are heavy but I begin to unpack what little nectar I have from my pack. I decide to dig into my meager supply and take a sip of the liquid. The taste of my mother's home made hot chocolate fills my mouth and I sigh with pleasure.

My ankle and back are healed within seconds and I begin to make my camp for the night.

I keep the fire small so as not to attract any unwanted visitors. My Aviator jacket and black T-shirt are torn in the back form the_ empousa_ claws and I shiver as the cold wind of the night finds its way to my skin. I rub my hands together near the fire trying to get some feeling back into my fingers. As the sun finally went behind the trees I stamp out my fire and climb up swiftly into one of the tallest evergreens with my duffle bag in tow. I find a crisscross of branches and limbs that are sturdy enough to hold my weight and roll out my sleeping bag.

I look up in between the branches above me and see the stars as they begin to shine. I can only bare to look at them for more than a few seconds before I have to turn my head away. I close my eyes as the sound of monsters roaming the forest and the distant memory of evil laughter and horrific screams fill my ears.

0-0-0-0-0-0

My dreams are far worse than the reality that I live in. Every night I see my friends and family being tortured and killed in front of my eyes as my feet and wrists are shackled to the floor. Biannca is always the first to show up and to be killed, she screams my name over and over again asking me to save her, to help her, and to put her out of her misery.

They go through everyone like this, bringing in one after another each one dying a more horrific death then the last. By the time they make it to the final one I am writhing on the floor in agony pleading for them to stop and put an end to my suffering.

The last one they carry in is Percy Jackson. They throw him on his knees in front of me and celestial bronze chains wrap around his wrists and ankles. Kronos stands behind him, scythe in hand. Percy, in all of this, is grinning. "It doesn't matter what you do to me, you'll never have the satisfaction of breaking me." He said defiantly.

Kronos says nothing to him, but lowers his scythe to where Percy kneels. He drags the blade up and down Percy's chest, slowly, making Percy scream in pain. He continued on like this for what seemed like forever, prolonging Percy's torture for his amusement. As he finished he pulled the scythe away to reveal his gruesome masterpiece; the words "Young Hero" scrawled across Percy's chest.

I retch on the floor beside me as Percy kneels there. His boy is shaking and his eyes have a distant look in them. A thin line of blood runs down his cheek and joins up with a larger stream of crimson that leaks onto the floor. Kronos walks around Percy like a vulture circling his prey. "My how the mighty have fallen." He laughs.

I pull hopelessly at the shackles around my wrists as Kronos ran his scythe down the length of Percy's bare arm drawing more and more blood. Percy cries out in pain and anger but I can do nothing to help him, or any of my other friends for that matter.

Percy looks at me. "Why aren't you doing anything?" he asked angrily. The shackles around my limbs vanish and I try to run towards him but a force begins to pull me backwards. My own shadow travel portal is pulling me back. I fight the swirling vortex of darkness with all my strength but I keep sliding backwards.

Kronos laughs. "Yes little Nico, try to save the only friend that you have left." I push forward as hard as I can but I only slide back farther.

Kronos now has his scythe behind Percy's back and is grinning evilly at me. "To bad, you could have saved him, heck you could have saved them all but you chose to run." He lowers his head down to Percy's ear and chuckles. "Any last words_ Hero of Olympus_?" He asks putting as much sarcasm into the last few words as possible.

Percy turns to Kronos with a pained expression. "Yeah…" he spits blood into Kronos' face causing the Titan to roar in anger. "… Screw you."

The last thing I see before the darkness overtakes me is Kronos shoving his scythe through Percy's back and puncturing his heart. Blood splatters everywhere and Percy falls lifeless to the floor, his sea green still open.

**Yeah kind of creepy but hey this is Kronos we're talking about; anyways please read and review, I enjoy constructive criticism but please no flames! not that I have anything against gay or anything but Nico is straight in this story because... well you'll see. Love y'all :P **


	2. Princes and princesses

**Hey guys second chapter is up. My brain is a cluttered mess so please forgive me if this chapter is a little scattered. :P**

I wake up in a cold sweat. My hands are trembling and tears stain my face. My breath is shaky as I sit up from my makeshift bed.

It's not yet morning but I cannot force myself back into sleep. I try to shake the horrible memories out of my mind but they're burned into the back of my eyes. When I blink the images flash into view and I shudder.

By the time the sun comes up I had already packed up my duffle bag and had started moving. I knew that if I didn't keep moving every monster within a 20 mile radius would be on me.

I walk along the ground at points but when I sense monsters, or rather smell them, I climb up into a nearby tree and continue on among the branches. No one can hear me as I leap from tree to tree, hiding in the shadows just out of sight.

Most of the monsters I see are patrolling the forest outside of New York City. None have caught any demigods which meant that I didn't have to rescue anyone. I was the last demigod who wasn't part of a rebel group. I'd been surviving on my own for two years; no help from anyone and that's how I like it. I only have to worry about myself in dangerous situations. Sure I help demigods when I can, but only because I know what Kronos can do to them. I never want anyone to suffer through pain like that.

Most of the time I stay within a 5 mile radius of New York City so I can keep an eye on Kronos and look for a weakness; so far none have come.

The sky by now is a hazy brown and most of the plants around the city are dead or dying. The trees are the only thing that survive due to the nymphs that Kronos has allowed to live. No birds sing and the winds blows through the branches of the trees, biting at my skin and hinting at the soon approaching winter.

Though Demeter and most of the Olympians were killed by Typhon; the four winds were tasked with creating the seasons. The humans still noticed the chance. Most of them thought that the apocalypse had started when Kronos took control, and in a way they were right. Usually Kronos didn't bother with humans, unless they could see through the mist. He still had a grudge against Rachel Elizabeth Dare for hitting him in the eye with her hairbrush. Still he was more focused on wiping demigods off the face of the planet.

He despised demigods more than the actual gods. Some rouge demigods had formed a rebel group most commonly known as the Titian's Bane. They usually attacked small hordes of monsters wandering around the country and giving Kronos a major headache. Mostly though, his problems were with me. I was the last child of the big three. He still believed that the prophecy wasn't complete and that I could save Olympus. I'm 15. Two months until my birthday. I had a small glimmer of hope that the prophecy would come true and I would preserve Olympus, but in reality… in knew it was hopeless. Percy Jackson, the best demigod of our generation couldn't even beat Kronos when he was in his weakened stage. How was I supposed to kill him when he is at full strength?

My mind is wandering as I leap to another branch; however, this branch isn't as thick as the others and I hear a snap! I try to grab at another branch and prevent myself from falling but I can't find a handhold and I tumble to the ground some 30 feet below. Branches scratch my legs and arms as I make my way down.

I hit the ground… hard. My breath comes out in a painful grunt. I'm stunned for a moment by the pain but I quickly get up and look at my surroundings. I'm in a small camp, a bonfire blazing in the middle with a single mat laid beside it. It seems abandoned, but an urgent voice tells me different.

"What are you doing? Do you have a death wish or are you just plain stupid? " a voice whispers harshly to me.

I turn around and see a girl sitting next to a tree her hands bound together by a rope wrapped around the trunk of the tree. Her skin is lightly tanned but littered with bruises and a few deep scratches. She's skinny from lack of food but not so much that she looks sick. Her clothes are torn and filthy; a pair of blue jeans that are torn at the knees and at small places in her thighs and a black T-shirt with a pair of teal headphones on the front that was covered in dirt and… dried blood. She is bare foot and her feet are dirty and scratched. Her ink black hair is pulled back into a short messy braid that reveals her face. Her lips are cracked and bleeding slightly and a small buries is visible on her lower jaw; but her eyes are what really catch my attention. They're a bright green-teal around the edges of the iris that slowly fade to a green and just before they reach the pupil the green fades into a golden brown, like waves crashing upon the shore.

I stare at her like an idiot for a few moments before I come back to my senses. "Who did this to you?"

"Shh… keep it down!" she whispers. Her eyes turn away from me and turn to fear. "Forget it just hide! Hurry!"

I don't argue and duck into some thorny shrubs just as a massive figure stomps into the camp; Atlas, Kronos's second in command. The titian wastes no time and walks directly toward the girl who stays perfectly still and tries not to look at where I am hidden.

Atlas sighs and looks at the girl with pleasure. "Hello, my dear. Did you miss me?"

She stays silent which seems to irritate the titian. "Now come on don't be like that. I just want to know how my girl is doing." He leans down so his face is in front of the girls. She again says nothing and turns her face away from his.

Atlas growls in frustration and grabs the girls chin and forces her to look at him. At first I think that he is going to slap her across the face but his scowl turns into an evil smirk. "You know I've always wanted to taste the lips of a sea spawn."

My mind spins at the words. Sea spawn. It couldn't be.

Atlas leans in to kiss the girl but he doesn't get very far. She spits in his face. "Well you're going to have to wait a bit longer."

The titian roared in anger and whipped the spit form his face. "You're going to pay for that." A look of fear crossed the girls face just before Atlas lifted her up off the ground by her throat dragging her back up the side of the tree until she was over his head. She struggled against her bonds but couldn't break free as Atlas continued to cut off her oxygen supply. She gasped for air as Atlas chuckled to himself. "How does that feel my dear? Do you like that? Huh?!" he said tightening his grip.

I couldn't take any more of this. I emerge from the bushes. "Hey Atlas!"

The titian turned just as I threw my sword at him, aiming for his chest and hitting my mark. A look of surprise crosses his face before I run at him and twist my sword out of his body. E bellows in rage and drops the girl from his grip. She slides down the side of the tree gasping and choking, trying to get enough oxygen back into her lungs.

The titian slams his hand into my stomach and I go flying, crashing into a tree on the other side of the camp. "Bad idea puny demigod." he rushes at me like a freight train but I quickly dodge and slash my sword at his side. Another scream of pain escapes the Titian's mouth as golden ichor begins to run out of the newly opened wound.

Atlas swipes at me again but I jump over the attack and bring my sword down on his wrist, severing his hand from his arm. The titian yells again and clutches the wound to his chest as more of his blood runs onto the ground.

He is now seething with rage and he jumps at me. I don't expect the sudden burst of speed and his foot slams me into the ground. The sole of his boot digs into my neck as I try to desperately push him off. Atlas grins triumphantly down at me as I grin my teeth and claw at his large boot squishing my windpipe.

"You're good kid I'll give you that, but you're not good enough. Kronos is going to praise me for bringing in two of the most powerful demigods to him in chains." Atlas laughed.

"I'm never going back to that place ever again!" I say as loud as I can with his boot on my throat.

I will myself to fall into the shadow of a nearby tree and Atlas growls in frustration as I disappear from his sight. I wind up behind the tree that the girl is tied to and I cut her hands free of the ropes.

"Come out you worthless spawn!" Atlas yells as he searches for me.

I run to the girl and stand her up on her bare feet.

"I'd really love to stay and chat Atlas but, I have other things I need to do." I say as the titian turns to where the two of us stand. His face is full of anger and surprise when he sees us.

I give him a wicked grin and a wink before I vanish into the shadows with the girl at my side.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

We wind up in another part of the forest, too far away for Atlas to find us. My mind is hazy from shadow traveling for such a long distance and I sit down on the dying grass as soon as we reappear out of the shadows.

The girl blinks her eyes a few times in shock but soon gets over it and begins to rub her wrists where the ropes had left deep red marks on her skin.

"You okay?" I ask seeing the hand mark on her throat.

She nods. "Yeah I'm fine, thanks… and you?"

"Same."

A million questions were running through my mind. Who was this girl? Why did Kronos want her? Why had Atlas called her Sea spawn? Why was she out here all on her own?

I can't think straight with all of these questions and I barely register her voice as she speaks.

"I guess I'd better get going; thanks again for… um… saving me back there." She says awkwardly. I don't say anything as he begins to walk away onto the forest. I almost let her go. I wanted so badly to forget all of my questions and just leave well enough alone, but I know I can't afford to let her walk away without getting some answers.

"You're a daughter of Poseidon… aren't you?" I blurt out.

The girl stops dead in her tracks and doesn't say a word. I continue on with my questions. "What are you doing out here alone? Why does Kronos want a daughter of Poseidon? Where did you come from? Who are you?"

She turns around in a flash and stares at me but doesn't answer my questions. She just continues to stare at me with her fascinating eyes and I do the same for a long time.

When she finally speaks, her voice has a hint of laughter to it. "I knew it was you; as soon as you shadow traveled I knew that you were him. Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades, prince of the underworld." She says a smile paying at her lips.

There is tension between us that is building, but it is soon broken by the girl sticking her hand out for me to shake.

"Anya Westfall, daughter of Poseidon and princess of the sea."

**Yep and now we will start to get into the flashbacks and answering some major questions for the story. Hope you enjoyed. Please review I love to know what you guys think and I want to get better at writing. **

**:P **


	3. The Puppeteer

**Hey guys kind of a creepy chapter here but I hope you guys will still like it. I'm trying to get better at writing and describing different settings and characters so please give me constructive criticism, but no flames. Hope you guy's enjoy.**

We spent the next couple of hours getting to know each other. She answered all of my questions and I answered most of hers.

She didn't ask me much, but sometimes I just couldn't bring myself to answer; luckily she got the message that I didn't want to talk about the subject and she moved on.

She smiled a lot, which seemed odd to me. I hadn't been in contact with another demigod in a long time. In a strange way it felt nice to see another person who laughed; it lifted my spirits. I even laughed! For the first time in almost three years I actually laughed! I knew I made a face after I had laughed when Anya looked at me with concern.

"You okay Nico?"

"Yeah… I just don't laugh all that often… it feels weird." I say.

She laughs, a bubbly and light laughter that makes another smile form on my lips. "What's so funny?" I ask.

She chuckles a little more before answering, "It's just you."

"Jee' thanks." I say earning another wave of laughter from Anya.

It feels as if we've known each other forever. Like two long lost friends who picked up right where they left off.

We continue to talk until the sun is just beginning to set over the tree tops. I stand up off the ground and scan the perimeter, making sure that there are no threats nearby before I turn back to Anya. "We can camp here for the night. Hopefully Atlas will wait until morning to start searching for us." I grab my duffle bag from the ground and begin to climb up into a nearby pine tree. I quickly make my way up the tree grabbing branches and swinging myself up higher and high into the tree. When I find a spot for me and Anya to sleep safely for the night I stop. Anya is staring up at me wide eyed.

"No way am I going up there." She says.

"Come on, it's not that bad. Besides, it's safer up here than it is down there." I call.

"Not in this lifetime." She says crossing her arms over her chest and looks up at me again with raised eyebrows. I give her the same look back. We stare at each other for a few minutes neither one of us breaking eye contact.

I laugh after a while. "You're so stubborn you know, you're exactly like Per…" I stop, flashes of the dream from the night before fill my mind. The torture, the screams, the blood.

"Nico, you okay?" Anya asks worriedly.

I shake out of the nightmare. "I'm fine… so are you coming up or what?"

"Nope"

I sigh "Well then you leave me no choice." I fall into the shadows of the tree and appear next to Anya in an instant. I wrap my arms around her waist and whisper in her ear. "Hold on."

I fall back into the shadows with her at my side and come to light back up in the tree. I feel triumphant at winning the argument; until Anya screams in panic and wraps her arms around me so tightly that I can barely breathe. She's trembling and yelling at me. "Get me down! Get me down! Get me down!"

I don't argue and shadow travel back to the forest floor. As soon as we're on solid ground, Anya releases her grip on me and scrambles back from the tree breathing heavily. Her hands are shaking and she stares up at the tree in fear.

"You're afraid of heights." I say slightly surprised.

She closes her eyes and clenches her fist. "Yeah… when Kronos first took over he captured me down in Florida. He took us to that hellhole of a prison for demigods. He would drop me from the highest point in the compound and just before I would hit the ground he would stop me. He did that every day for three months." She chuckled reluctantly. "You'd think I would have gotten over my fear after so long, but it just made it worse."

She hugged her shoulders and sighed. "I hate that I'm so weak."

"You're not weak." I say. She looks up at me. "Being afraid of something doesn't make you weak. Letting that fear consume your life is what makes someone weak. Trust me… I should know."

I look at my hands and arms, so many scars each one holds a different memory of pain; but having to face my worst fear every day, it would be a living nightmare.

I sigh. "You know we can't stay down here." I grab her hand and look into her amazing eyes. "I promise that nothing is going to happen. I'll be right here…okay?" She stares at me. "Look… I know you're scared, but fear isn't a luxury we can afford right now."

She keeps her gaze steady but nods.

"Alright, you ready?"

She nods again and squeezes my hand.

"Okay." We disappear into the shadows once again and reappear back in the tree.

Anya doesn't let go of my hand. She's still trembling like before, but she didn't scream or argue.

I don't let my grip waver as I lay out my sleeping bag on the branches of the pine tree. The needles provide somewhat of an extra cushion under the sleeping bag, but Anya doesn't seem to notice. I can barely get her to lay down and even when she is lying on her side she's strung as tight as a bowstring.

I'm careful not to touch her except for where are hands meet, but soon I can feel her body shivering from the cold.

I sit up carefully and begin to pull off my aviator jacket. "Here," I wrap the jacket around her trembling shoulders, "take this. It's not much but it should help a little."

She takes the jacket gratefully and we lay back down. Her breath has now slowed down to a normal pace but I can tell that she's still not comfortable. I move away from her. "Hey if you're not comfortable with me being beside you I can move." I say.

"No!" she says urgently. "Please, I um… could you… hold me?" she asks timidly.

I stare at her for a moment but I nod and slowly begin to wrap my arms around her smaller frame. She shivers as my hand brushes the small amount of bare skin that is showing on her arms. "Sorry, I'm not going to be much help when it comes to heat." I say ruefully.

She laughs nervously but tucks her body closer to mine. Her hair smells vaguely of ocean water; comforting and tropical. I can feel her body relaxing and soon I hear her smooth and steady breathing.

"Good night… princess." I whisper into her ear just as I too fall the darkness of sleep.

0-0-0-0-0

The dream comes again tonight, the same start, the same tears, and the same screams. Up until the end everything was the way it had always been; but then it moves to when Percy is going to die.

I'm sitting on the ground shackles bound around my wrists and feet but the room I'm in is different. The ceiling is higher and a catwalk with railings runs along the length of the room but a large chunk of the railing is missing from the center of the walkway.

I'm confused for a moment, but my attention is turned to a girls screams of protests.

"No not again, I'll do anything! Please stop!" The girl cries. I can see her figure being led atop the catwalk but it's too dark for me to make out any noticeable features.

The girls figure is lead on, despite her protests, until she reaches the center of the catwalk without the metal railing. Her screams grow louder and more urgent but no one answer's her cries. Before I can understand what exactly is happening hear a bloody chilling scream and a few seconds after, a large crack!

A spotlight turns on and I follow the beam of light to the floor below the catwalk. A broken form lies on the ground a pool of crimson liquid already beginning to flow onto the cement. The figures legs and arms are bent at odd angles and her clothes are torn and dirty.

I stare in horror as I realize that the girl's body from the catwalk now lies before me bloodied and broke. As my eyes finally find the girls face, I let out a hoarse cry of disbelief.

Her hair is long and dirty but still a beautiful raven black. Her eyes still open, but lifeless, are the same ones I had stared into when I saved her from Atlas only hours ago.

"Anya?!" I cry out. Her eyes stare at me dull and her neck is snapped at a horrible angle. But the worst part was her mouth. It was still agape from her screams but as I stare at her it curls up into a sickening sneer.

"Why didn't you save me? You could have stopped all of this, but you ran like a coward." Anya's corpses says. Bile rises in my throat and I feel as if I'm going to be sick. Her body is still broken and unmoving but her mouth forms the words making her look like a damaged doll someone just threw in the trash.

Suddenly her corpse rises off the floor and shuffles over to me. Her movements are jerky and her head is tilted to the side, her eyes unblinking.

She stands over me blood still dripping down her limbs and onto the floor around me. She sticks her gruesome face into mine and screams at me. "You let this happen! It's all your fault!"

"No I didn't…" I try to continue but a new even more horrific scene begins to unveil itself to me. Through the glare of the spotlight I can make out tinny strings holding Anya's corpse up off the ground like some twisted, demonic puppet being dangled in front of me. I stare in a horrified state of shock as more figures begin to come up behind Anya.

As they make their way into the light I can see all of my friends and family that were killed and tortured in Kronos's prison. Each one looks just as grotesque and demonic as Anya. Some with broken or missing limbs, others with gashes or burns littering their skin. All of them have strings holding them up off the ground. They're all staring at me and shouting, some curse at me and nothing else while others ask me why I let them die, why had I run away when I was needed the most.

When I couldn't answer their questions they began to swarm around me; their screams and questions getting louder and louder with each moment.

When they reach me, they begin to tear at my clothes and my body, drawing blood and tearing me apart. The pain is unbearable and I cry out in pure agony. They begin to pile on top of me crushing me under their weight, knocking the breath out of my lungs and burying me under a bloody and guilty pile of bodies.

At some point I am on my back and staring up at the catwalk above the ground as bodies continue to pile on top of me. I see all of the strings that hold up my friends leading up to a single point on the catwalk. Someone is holding onto the strings and controlling their movements; their puppeteer. The figures eyes give them away; their deep golden gleam and evil glint make them impossible to misplace; Kronos.

His deep evil laughter breaks in over the noise and I see him smirk down at me from the darkness, his teeth glowing white like the Cheshire cat, just as the life is squeezed out of me and my world goes black.

**I some of you are probably wondering what Nico ran away from and why he keeps having these horrible dreams, but I should be able to start explaining a lot of this in the next couple of chapters. I also have another story called "Darkest Betrayal" which is another Nico Di Angelo story if you want to read more of my writing. Anyways love y'all Read &amp;Review you know the drill. :P **


	4. Are you serious?

**Hey guys sorry for not updating sooner, I've just been super busy lately plus this chapter is a little longer than the others. I'm truly sorry if Nico seems to be a bit emotional but I'm a teenage girl trying to write form a guys POV and it's something that I struggle with and I'm trying to get better at. again please forgive me and I hope you enjoy the newest chapter. :P**

I sit up with a start. I'm back in reality. Anya sleeps quietly next to me her breath slow and even. She looks nothing like the hideous puppet that I saw in my dream. With a sigh of relief I relax my shoulders and take in a deep breath.

"It was only a dream." I reassure myself quietly. I look at Anya's sleeping face, peaceful and beautiful. A strand of her raven black hair has fallen into her face and before I realize what I'm doing I brush it behind her ear. She stirs slightly and I draw my hand back. Her nose scrunches up and she turns her head slightly to the side before relaxing again. It's quite cute actually.

A cold wind begins to blow and snow begins to fall silently on the forest floor. It's close to dawn but the sun hasn't come up yet. The moon is still shining through the cloak of clouds that cover the sky. I sigh and close my eyes wondering if I should go back to sleep or look for breakfast before Anya woke up.

I don't get the chance to make a decision. A snap of the branches below me makes my body go ridged.

I hear a grunt followed by a harsh but quiet voice. "Keep quiet! They'll hear us!"

I grip the hilt of my sword and slowly reach out and gently shake Anya awake. Before she can say anything I put my hand over her mouth. I can tell she's annoyed by being woken up but I signal that there is something below us. Her eyes widen and she nods in understanding.

I release her mouth and peek through the branches to the forest floor. At first I can't see anything, but some slight movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. Two figure are stumbling around in the darkness below. I can't tell who they are or even if they're human, but I know there being here is a bad sign.

I motion for Anya to stay quiet as the two figures stop just below the pine tree. I can hear their heavy breathing even from up here. They've been running from something, you only run that hard when you're running for your life.

"Jack we have to stop… I can't keep up." One of them says trying to catch their breath. The voice sounds like it belongs to a young girl, but I can't make out any facial features so I can't be sure. The other one, who I assumed must have been Jack, grabs the girl's hands.

"We have to keep going. If Kronos finds us he'll kill us. The Bane of Olympus is the only place that's safe for us."

Behind me Anya's body tenses and I can tell she's heard the conversation. Jack kneels down and lifts the young girl onto his back. He whispers something to the girl that I can't hear and starts to walk away into the forest.

When they're out of earshot I turn back to Anya. "We're leaving, now."

She looks at me with a disappointed and worried expression on her face. "Aren't we going to help them?" she whispers back. I shake my head.

"We can't…"

"Why not?" she asks a little anger in her voice.

"If Kronos is hunting them in this part of the woods then we need to as far away from them as possible."

She crosses her arms and her eyebrows scrunch together in anger. "We have to help them."

"No!" I say louder than I meant to. Anya's eyes widen in surprise. I sigh and look at my hands. "I'm sorry. If I was on my own and Atlas wasn't looking for us I wouldn't hesitate to help them, but it's too risky."

Anya closes her eyes and sighs but doesn't argue with me any longer. I begin to pack up our area with Anya holding the branches of the tree in a death grip. She seemed just as terrified as last night, but every time I brushed her arms to keep her from screaming, she relaxes slightly.

I finish in minutes and I shadow travel us to the forest floor. As our feet materialize on the ground Anya inhales deeply and smiles at me.

"I never understood why people liked to climb trees."

I chuckle and look up at the sky. The sun had just begun to rise over the tops of the trees. The red and orange rays of light that shone upon the tips of the pines crated the illusion of a forest fire that was quickly spreading across the country side. It was beautiful, but ominous all the same.

Anya looks over her shoulder into the forest where the two kids had disappeared. I sigh. "Anya, you know it's too risky for us to…"

"Yeah I know…" she sighs and rubs the length of her forearm, "…I just have a bad feeling."

No sooner had the words left her mouth a high pitched scream shattered the otherwise peaceful silence of the forest. Anya and I were already racing towards the noise; I knew that going to help was a really bad idea but I kept running.

We reach a clearing in minutes. The two demigods from earlier stand in the center of the clearing, completely surrounded and outnumbered.

The boy, Jack stands with his sword held in one hand and his other hand wrapped protectively around the little girl. I could tell she was scared but she held out a very small dagger as her only weapon.

At least 15 monsters surround the two of them but I'm sure there are others nearby. One of the monsters hisses. "These aren't the demigods we're looking for."

"We'll take these two alive and then continue the search for the others." Another replies.

"No need, we're right here." Anya says stepping out into the clearing. I come out beside her with my Stygian iron sword raised. One of the monsters, a _dracaena_, hissed in surprise.

"Ssssssss… it seemsss like we've gotten lucky. Take them!" she ordered pointing a spear at us. The 15 monsters charged at us full speed but Anya didn't wait for them to overrun us, she charged into them completely unarmed.

I was scared for her at first and charged in after her, but when I saw her take the _dracaena_ down and kill her with her own spear, the fear washed away from me.

We hacked through the monsters pretty quickly; the boy, Jack, was able to slice a couple of them in half with his sword but he couldn't do much besides protect the little girl with the dagger. A one point a heard a high pitched scream and the little girl fell to the ground crimson blood pouring out of an arrow wound in her thigh.

"Jen!" jack cried as the girl lay on the ground. A giant telkhine ran at Jack and slammed him against a tree knocking him out cold. The creature stood over the girl who was whimpering as she held her small knife in her trembling hands. I was locked in combat with two other telkhine and could only watch as the monster closed in on the helpless figure.

"Lord Kronos would love to have such young Olympian blood added to his collection." The telkhine hissed.

"No!" Anya cried out as the telkhine raised his sword ready to come down in a deadly arc. A streak of black hair and tan skin flies across my vision and intersects the sword strike just as it came down.

Anya stands over the girl using the spear that she stole to stop the advancement of the sword. "Run!" she grunted. I could see that the telkhine was pressing hard on the sword and that the spear wouldn't hold for much longer.

The young girl tries to crawl away but the arrow in her thigh made it extremely difficult, not to mention painful. She somehow manages to crawl to Jack who was groaning but not waking up. The two telkhine that were fighting me were beginning to slow so I finished them off with a few swipes and rush to help.

Anya was getting forced to her knees but she made a last ditch effort and swung her leg out to throw the telkhine off his feet. As her foot connected to his calf though, the monster brought his bade down quick and sliced into Anya's side. Anya didn't cry out at the blade struck her, only grunted slightly and let the monster fall to the ground.

She stood up as fast as she could and began coming towards us. "Nico! Get us out of here before more monsters have the chance to find us!" she yells half running half stumbling to our side.

As soon as she reaches us I take her hand and shadow travel the four of us to safety.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Shadow traveling myself far distances is hard enough as it is, after about two travels my head stars to ache and I feel like I'm going to hurl. Taking three extra people with me was almost impossible.

As soon as my feet touched the ground I felt like I was going to pass out. My stomach was in knots and my vison was blurry. Still I pushed through the pain and tried to help the others.

Jack was finally able to sit up but he felt nauseous and one of his eyes was dilated, meaning (For those of you that don't know) he has a concussion and a bad one from what I could tell.

He was trying to help the little girl with the arrow in her thigh, but there wasn't anything he could do; besides snap off the ends of the arrow so only a small part of the shaft was sticking out of her skin. Even if he managed to pull out the shaft the girl would bleed to death within minutes. The arrow had pierced her femoral artery and it was the only thing preventing the blood from coming out any faster.

Jack keep whispering encouragements to her like "You're going to be alright. We'll get through this. You're so strong." and so on.

Meanwhile I tried to help Anya. The telkhine had cut her side deeper than I thought, but thankfully it wasn't life threatening and if we got it patched up she'd be fine in a few days. Too bad Anya wouldn't listen to me.

"We need to get them to the Titan's bane it's that's the only way they'll be safe." She kept saying refusing to let me doctor her wounds and saying it was only a scratch.

"No what we need to do is get you fixed up before we go anywhere. If that gash gets infected we won't have to worry about Kronos hunting you anymore." I say slightly colder than I meant to.

Finally after one last argument she sat down on a fallen log and lifted her shirt up enough to expose wound. Even with my vison slightly blurred I was able to patch up the cut and wrapped it in an athletic tape to keep the absorbing pads from slipping out of place.

After I finish and put my small amount of medical supplies back in my bag (which thankfully I hadn't dropped while fighting) I turned back to the girl and Jack.

The girl's face was pale and was covered in a cold sweat. Tears were flowing down her face but she didn't cry out only inhaled sharply whenever she moved her leg. I gave her a small amount of ambrosia, but with the arrow still in her thigh, the godly drink could only do so much.

She looking into Jacks eyes and spoke her voice full of pain. "Jack… am I going to die?"

"No; I'm not going to let that happen Jen. You're going to be fine." Jack said although I could tell he wasn't completely sure in his answer.

Anya kneeled down beside the girl, Jen, and put a light hand on her shoulder. "We'll get you to the Titan's bane and they'll fix that leg up for you." She said with a gentle smile on her lips.

Jen nodded slightly.

"I'll carry her." Jack said getting ready to pick Jen up off the ground.

I hold him back. "Whoa there, no offence but you're in no condition to carry her. If you pass out all of the sudden and drop her then that wound would get even worse. I'm the only one not injured here so I'll take her." I say

Jack sighs and nods reluctantly so I carefully pick Jen up and carry her bridal style. I avoid where the arrow pierced her skin, but the movement makes her cringe and bite back a scream.

"I know it hurts, but you have to hold on just a little but longer." I say as soothingly as I can.

This little girl was a trooper. She didn't complain once as I carried her through the woods. Most people who get this wound would be crying and screaming like babies, but Jen stayed silent only trembling and cringing a few times during the trip.

We stayed mostly silent for the majority of the trip but about 20 minutes away from the Titan's bane Jack spoke up. Jen had fallen into a fitful sleep in my arms and I knew we had to get her proper medical attention soon.

"Thank you so much for your help. We'd be dead if you guys hadn't stepped in." he sighs and looks at the ground somewhat ashamed. "I've never been strong enough to protect her. Hopefully once we get to the Titan's bane she'll finally have someone who can take better care of her."

Anya puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey you did the best you could. It's hard for all of us, no one blames you for what happened and I know for a fact that you would do anything for her." She said looking and Jen.

Jack sighs again but looks up from the ground. "If only my best could protect her…" he paused for a moment before sticking out his hand to Anya. "I forgot we were never properly introduced. I'm Jack Kileman son of Hermes and that's Jen Mailings, daughter of Aphrodite. We escaped from Kronos' prison two days ago." I looked back to Jen's face with feelings of utter horror and astonishment. This little girl had survived the twisted horrors of Kronos' prison at such a young age. She couldn't have been more than 10 years old but her body had endured enough punishment and torcher to last three lifetimes.

I purse my lips in anger. Kronos was going to pay no matter what.

Anya accepted his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Anya Westfall, daughter of Poseidon and this is Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades."

Jack's eyes widened in shock. "You're… you're a daughter of Po… Poseidon and a son of Ha…Hades?!" he stammered.

Anya smiled and I chuckled at his surprise. "Yeah well it's not something we like people to know. I mean being a child of the big three isn't very… convenient right now with everything going on."

Jack was still staring at us in awe as if we were some big time celebrities. "So does that mean you're going to fulfil the prophecy?"

Anya and I both stopped. "What prophecy?" Anya asked with a puzzled look on her face. For a moment I thought she was joking. Everyone had heard about the great prophecy, the one that would save the world or ensure Kronos' rein until the end of time.

"Have you seriously never heard of the Great Prophecy?" I asked as Jen continued to sleep in my arms. Anya shook her head.

"No; why is important or something?"

I was stunned; Anya, the only other person in the world who this Prophecy could apply to, had absolutely no clue that she could change the fate of the world.

"You're telling me you've never heard: _A half-blood of the eldest gods, shall reach sixteen against all odds, and see the world in endless sleep, the hero's soul cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end their days, Olympus to preserve or raze. _The great prophecy given to your half-brother!" I say my voice raising in disbelief and slight annoyance.

"No Nico I'm sorry I've never heard of "The Great Prophecy" in my life!" Anya says a slight scowl on her face.

I still couldn't believe it. Even though her brother, the great Percy Jackson, the most famous demigod on the freakin' planet, died trying to fulfil this gods forsaken prophecy she had never even hear of it and had no idea that it even applied to her.

"That's just great now we're officially screwed." I mutter under my breath. I look at Jen's sleeping face in my arms; her face was ghostly pale and I knew she didn't have much time left. I shook my head. "Never mind, we'll talk about it later. Right now we have to get Jen medical attention, fast." I say starting to walk again.

"You're right," Anya sighs, "Jen needs help."

I kind of bad that I didn't answer Jacks' question so as we were walking I turned to him. "To answer your question…I'm not really sure."

Jack nodded in understanding. I still had a glimmer of hope that we could put an end to Kronos, but the doubt and reality of the situation weighed down on my mind. Kronos was at full strength and unstoppable, Olympus was a desolate wasteland, most of the gods had faded, and the only other person who could preserve Olympus was completely oblivious to her destiny. Things looked pretty grim.

I looked back down a Jen. She was so strong, even at such a young age. I sighed; if kids like Jen were still in this world and willing to rise up against Kronos I would do my best to fulfil the prophecy, even if it meant going up against the unstoppable.

Gods it felt weird to think optimistically. 

**So yeah I had to change the Great prophecy slightly to fit my story and for those of you who are freaking out and saying "She changed the Prophecy! She can't do that!" I'm sorry but I had to have it apply to Anya along with Nico, okay. I know I still haven't gotten into the back stories and everything but I'm trying to build a relationship between Anya and Nico before we get into some of the more intense parts of the story(plus I haven't exactly figured out how I'm going to do them 0.o) Anyways Pleas leave a review even if your anonymous I love reviews and they make me feel good and work more. Love ya'll :P **


	5. Dream come true (Sort of)

**Hey guys as you can clearly see my updating patterns are all over the place and I have no idea when I'll be able to write and update. Anyways I had a major inspiration rush these past couple days and I wrote this gruesome chapter in about two days. when August rolls around I'm not sire if I'll be able to update at all after that, what with Volleyball practice every freaking day and school starting up the month after, but I'll still try to keep updating. Thank you to those of you who have reviewed so far it really does mean a lot to me. Here is the new chapter for you guys. :P**

The 20 minutes to the Titan's bane seemed to take hours. I wasn't sure if it was Kronos slowing down time or if it was just my body starting to give into the exhaustion but everything seemed to be going by in slow motion.

By the time we reached the entrance my limbs felt like gel-o. Now of course the entrance to a secret rebel base would be well hidden and well-guarded, but thankfully I had brought so many demigods to this base that I knew where to go. The entrance was really just a door inlaid in a giant bolder and shrouded by magic, curtsey of the children of Hecate, and a lot of overgrow ivy. Now most people would pass the entrance by unless they knew exactly what to look for.

The simple design of an omega symbol engraved on the stone next to the door (**Ω**). It was supposed to symbolize the last hope for demigods in the uphill battle that we were all facing. I never gave it much thought but when Jens tired and bloodshot eyes saw the symbol and she lit up with joy I couldn't help but thank the gods for that little mark in the stone.

"This is it." I say. I gently lay Jen into Jacks arms, carefully avoiding the arrow wound and approach the door. I trace my finger over the omega sign and whisper, "_aperi" _(**open in Latin**)

I brush aside the ivy to unveil the door as the magic locks unlatch with a small _'click'._ The door creaks slightly with age as I push it open to reveal a dark musty smelling cave with stony steps leading deep into the earth.

"Come on," I say beginning the descent, "I'll lead." Jack hands Jen back to me and I cautiously take her small body into my arms. As soon as the four of us are inside the cave the door shuts behind us and the locks click back into place leaving us in complete darkness. Jack and Anya both shiver with uneasiness.

"This place gives me the creeps." Anya says. I can't see their faces but I can tell their doubting I've brought them to the right place.

I chuckle softly, "Don't worry, just follow the sound of my voice and we'll be there soon." My voice echoes in the cave making it seem louder than it really is. I lead on going slow so as not to lose the others.

The cave seems to go on forever and when Jen whimpers in pain I know that we have to go faster. "We have to go faster." I say urging Anya and Jack on as I quicken my step. I can here Anya shriek softly as she runs into an old cobweb.

"I hate spiders." She states with a shiver.

"You sound like a child of Athena." I say unable to maintain my degree of silence. Jack stifles a laugh and Anya huffs in annoyance but we keep going.

Soon I can see the dim glow of a torch further along in the tunnel. I know we're close but something's unsettling; Anya sums up my fears perfectly.

"Shouldn't we have run into some guards by now?"

I nod even though I know she can't see it. The tunnel is eerily quiet and a shiver runs up my spine. Nothing seems right. I keep going until we reach the torchlight. The stairs end and open up into a large room. Well I guess room isn't quite right, it was more like a dugout part of the earth held up by dirt pillars with no more than 6 feet from floor to ceiling.

Torches lite up the room, but I wished they didn't. A gruesome scene lays before us and I'm glad that Jen is unconscious so she doesn't have to see.

Bodies are scattered across the floor, demigods bodies covered in dried blood and monster dust. Their corpses are mangled and broken beyond recognition. Jack throws up beside me and Anya chokes back a scream of horror. My eyes are wide with disbelief, it can't be real… it can't be.

I try to keep myself from looking at their faces but I can't. As I skim from corpse to corpse images of my dead friends flash in and out of my mind. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, Bianca… they're all there laying before me as twisted and horrific as I remembered.

No! It's not them, get it together. I urge myself but it's too much; I fall to my knees almost dropping Jen onto the blood soaked ground.

"No…" Anya says her hand muffling her voice. She sees it to so I know I'm not imagining things. "How did…"

I'm almost to overtaken by grief to not catch a sword flying in out of nowhere and coming at me.

Without thinking, I jerk my hand from underneath Jen and grab the writ of the person wielding the sword. It's a young boy no older than me. His eyes are wild with fear and his face is splattered with blood.

"_Expecta, expecta! Sumus amici!"_ I shout. (**Wait, wait! We're friends**,) I should have said it in English but my mind went automatically to Latin. The boy doesn't seem to hear me and tries to wrench his arm away and swing at me again. "Stop! Calm down!" I say as I swiftly disarm him.

Anya finally comes to my aid and pins the boy to the ground. He struggles but can't get up he begins screaming like a lunatic. "I'll kill them all! They took my sister from me! They killed her…!" he says and breaks down into a sob still thrashing as the tears roll down his cheeks.

"Please calm down, we're demigods, nothing's going to hurt you just calm down." Anya says as soothingly as she can wile surrounded by corpses. The boy stops his struggling but his body continues to shake from his sobbing.

Anya looks at me helplessly. I don't know what to do, my mind is racing and my stomach is queasy. I'm used to seeing death but this…it's too graphic, even for me. "Who could have done this?" Anya asks me still trying to calm down the boy.

"It's Atlas, it has to be. He must have been searching for us and found them here." I say looking at the display of bodies once again.

Anya's eyes were like daggers. I could feel the earth shaking slightly as she spoke with malice present. "Kronos is going to pay for this, all of it; I'll make sure he feels the amount of pain he's caused us." She said her voice deadly quiet. The tremor started to grow more powerful by the second and I was afraid the entire room would collapse on us.

"Anya…" I say warningly looking at the ceiling. Small cracks begin to appear and dirt starts to come loose. "Anya!"

She snaps out of her rage and looks at me; the earth stops shaking. I can tell she's still furious but her eyes soften when they reach mine. I look at her worriedly.

"I'm sorry…I'm fine…" she whispers looking ashamed at herself.

"How did you…"

"It's nothing, look I promise I'll explain but if Atlas destroyed this place looking for us…"

I nod in understanding. "…then we need to get Jen help and leave as soon as possible."

Anya sighs and turns to the boy whose sobs have quieted and gone to pitiful whimpers. Anya gently puts a hand on his shoulder and the boy looks up at her. His face and hair is grimy and his eyes are bloodshot from crying.

I looked at Anya with admiration. Even though she had no idea who this kid was she still knew exactly what to say and do to comfort him. She looked into his scared eyes, calmly and whispered to him soothingly. "Shh, it's alright. Nothing's going to happen, you're safe now." she paused and looked back at me then back to the boy. "Can you tell us how this happened?"

It was risky asking him a question like that. One misstep and he could go ballistic on us again or shut up like a clam and we'd never find out what happened.

There was a long silence before the boy finally spoke. "We… we never stood a chance. They attacked us in the middle of the night. No warning. I was…I was on guard duty with my…" he cringed and clenched his fists, "…with my sister and some others when they found the door. I still don't know how they got in but they broke in a tore us apart, literally." No one was in the mood to crack a smile. "Anyways…I was the only one of the guards to survive. They knocked me out, I guess they thought I was dead so they left me and went I search of the others."

"Others; there are others?" Anya asked sounding slightly more optimistic than I thought appropriate.

"Yeah they're further along in the tunnels, they killed off the rest of the monsters but I didn't go back. I couldn't bear to look at the other knowing that I was the only one who survived even though I should have died by my sister. It was just too much." He says quietly. He glances over at a corpse on the ground.

I followed his gaze and looked at the body crumpled on the ground. This one was smaller than the others its arms twisted at gruesome angles and neck snapped like a twig. This must have been his sister, I shiver and turn away from the corpse with her final screams plastered across her face.

Everything about this situation bring me back to the battle of Manhattan, how I abandoned everyone and fled like a coward while they stayed behind. I had been the only survivor of that day and the memories still haunt me.

I clench my fists tight and take in a breath. I wasn't going to let these demigods be disgraced like this, left to rot on the floor like yesterday's trash. They deserved better.

I turn to Jack who hasn't said a word and give Jen to him carefully. I stand up unsteadily and raise my hands to be parallel with the ground. I close my eyes and concentrate. These kids shouldn't have died such horrible deaths.

The ground beneath each of the corpses cracks open and skeletal hands poke out of the crack.

"What are you doing?!" the boy shouts trying to jump on me.

"My father's servants will take their bodies to be buried, they will be given proper funerals and remembered as heroes. As for their souls, my father promised that every demigods that dies will be sent to Elysium. They will be treated like the heroes they were… I promise."

The boy nods solemnly as the hands gently wrap around the body of his sister and begin to pull her into the ground. "Wait!" he says. I motion for the skeletal hands to stop. He crawls over to his sister and grasps her stiff hand firmly. Tears are streaming down his face clearing lines through the grime on his cheeks. "I'm sorry, I should have done better. I promise you that I will never let this happen again." He whispers to her. He plants a kiss on her forehead and let's go of her hand allowing the skeletal hands to finish pulling her beneath the earth.

As the cracks disappear and the bodies are pulled under I feel weak at the knees. I knew it was stupid to waste my energy like this but I couldn't leave them like that. My vision darkens around the edges and a stumble slightly. Anya stands up to help me but I wave her away. "I'm fine; don't worry about me."

Anya nods and turns back to the boy who's sitting on the ground with his eyes closed and tears still streaming down his cheeks. "I know this is a bad time to as you this, but we need your help. Our friend is going to die if we don't get her medical attention soon. Please… can you take us to the others?"

The boy opens his eyes and looks over at Jen whose breathing is uneven and dangerously slow. He nods and stands up. "I owe it to Vanessa. (**His sister**) Follow me."

So we take off down the tunnels in silence, mourning the dead and dreading what will happen in the future.

**Yep it's kind of short and creepy but oh well. Wish me luck at Volleyball Tryouts! Love ya'll! :P ~Gatorgirl**


	6. What if?

**Hey guys short chapter here and I apologize for that. I've had really bad writers block and I've been reading some soul eater fanfics that are like 65 chapters long and I just couldn't stop! I still haven't figured out what I'm going to with the backstories for Nico and Anya, but I'm working on it! Just a little tid bit: I was listening to second chance by shine down when I thought of this story so if you guys want to listen to it you can just look it up or whatever. Anyways here you go! :P**

We reach the other demigods in no time. Though they didn't exactly give us a warm welcome. One of them almost lobbed Anya's head off her shoulders but thankfully when I stepped in front of the strike they recognized me. The sword stopped only inches from my neck.

"Nico?! What are you doing here?" One of the guys from the crowd asked lowering his bow. It was Nate, son of Hephaestus, and second in command of the Titans Bane.

I pushed the sword tip away from my neck with my pointer finger and glared at the demigod holding it. He cowered slightly and lowered his sword completely.

"We need help, some of my friends were injured and we need supplies."

"Of course, I'll get some of the medics to help out." Nate turned to a girl on his left and whispered something to her before she raced off down the tunnel.

Jack laid Jen down on the ground and stroked her grimy hair. I could tell she was close to death, her spirit was slowly fading from the world of the living.

"Thank you, I know you probably don't have much to spare but I'll be leaving soon and I need to stock up on food and medical supplies." I pause and look at him seriously. "We saw what Kronos's men did. I promise you he's going to pay."

Nate shoulders slump down and he sighs. "Make sure he does. My brother was killed in that mess." He says his eyes full of anger and sorrow.

I felt horrible, so many people had died because of Anya and me. Kronos wasn't going to stop until he prevented the prophecy. I nod and he sighs again wiping unfallen tears from his eyes.

We stand there in awkward silence for a moment not one of us knowing what to say. We had all lost someone in this war; be it a friend, sibling, or parent, this war was hurting everyone and no one knew how we were supposed to deal with the losses.

Luckily the girl that Nate had sent off came back with a few more girls and guys that looked like the medics and broke the silence. They came with medical supplies and nectar, swarming around Jen with worried expression and hushed tones. One of them, an older girl with a stethoscope, was checking her heartbeat and examined Jen's injured leg.

She turned back to me with a grim look in her eyes. She sighed, "You should have gotten her here sooner; she'll live, but she might lose function of her leg. It's going to be difficult, but I'll do what I can."

"Thank you." I said. The group of demigods slowly picked up Jen and began to carry her away with Jack following closely behinds them. Nate put a hand on my shoulder as I watched them go.

"She's in the best hands." Nate said reassuringly.

I nodded half-heartedly, but I turned my face back to Anya who was looking after Jen with a worried expression etched across her face.

I walked over to her. She looked at me her face pale. "You okay?" I asked, half-tempted to out a hand on her shoulder.

She looked almost like she was going to cry. "It's just… oh gods Nico…" she put her hand over her mouth and her face turns paler. "…all those kids, I can't get their faces out of my head. I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"I…" I didn't know what to say. I couldn't really offer her any condolences like it'll pass, you'll be fine, or anything like that because I was feeling the same way. I'd seen hundreds of people die, but that didn't mean that the horror of seeing those kids, slaughtered like animals, was any less nauseating. I pull her into a hug and she shakes in my arms. I'd never been one for physical touch, but I knew that Anya needed the reassurance that someone else was standing beside her in this horrible time and that she wasn't alone.

The crowd begins to disperse around us, silent and grieving, but angry as well. Nate clears his throat and I release Anya from my arms. She's still pale but she stops shaking and looks around the room with a grim expression on her face.

"Nico, who's this? I've never seen her before. A new recruit?" Nate asked a hint of hope in his voice. Anya turns to him and holds out a hand solemnly for Nate to shake.

"Hi, I'm Anya Westfall, daughter of Poseidon." She says.

Nate's eyes widen. "You're… you're Percy Jackson's sister?" Nate says in astonishment. Anya nods and Nate looks back to me. "That means… you may not be the child of the prophecy." I also nod and Anya looks at us confused.

"Nico mentioned a prophecy before. Can someone please tell me how I fit into this whole fate of the world situation?" she asks exasperated.

Nate looks at me with equal astonishment. "You haven't told her yet?"

"I was getting to it." I sigh.

"Might a well tell her now, there's no time like the present as they say." He looks between us and backs me. "I'll let you two discuss this in private while I go tell Jeremiah about the new… development."

He takes off down the tunnels after everyone else leaving the two of us in complete silence. I don't speak for a minute, my min still swirling on how exactly I was going to tell her everything. Anya sighs and sits down on the ground waiting for me to begin.

Finally I find my voice, "You remember the prophecy I said earlier?"

She nods. "_A half-blood of the eldest gods, shall reach sixteen against the odds, and see the world in endless sleep, the hero's soul cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end their days, Olympus to preserve or raze." _

The words send shivers up my spine, but I sit down next to her on the dusty floor. "That prophecy can only be fulfilled by a demigod child of the big three…"

"Meaning you and me." Anya said.

I nod. "Yes but about three years ago, there were a total of three people that we knew about, who were children of the big three. Me, my good friend Thalia Grace who was a daughter of Zeus, and your half-a brother Percy Jackson. Percy was the one that everyone was counting on to fulfil the prophecy, since I was too young and Thalia became a hunter of Artemis. But Percy failed. When Kronos attacked Manhattan the demigods from Camp half-blood defended mount Olympus but ultimately were defeated. Percy was captured and taken to Kronos's prison and killed. I was the only survivor of that day." I look at the ground.

"So the person who fulfils this prophecy will save what remains of the gods and defeat Kronos?" Anya says slightly stunned.

"Or destroy them forever." I let that hang in the air for a few moments. Anya stared at me for only a moment before shaking her head and letting out a disbelieving laugh.

"I don't know what to say…" she runs her hands up her face and through her messy black hair. She puffs out her cheeks and let the air out. "No pressure or anything…"

I smile half-heartedly for a moment but I disappears from my lips as I sit down. "Anya, Kronos still believes in this prophecy and he will stop at nothing to prevent it from happening. I will be turning sixteen in two months." I purse my lips and close my eyes. "When and if I make it to that day I could be the one to kill Kronos, but it could just as easily be you."

She clenched her fist. "What day is your birthday?"

"January 28th."

She cringed as if my answer wasn't the one that she wanted to hear. "Mine is January 30th."

I blinked. So it really could be either one of us, only one day separated us. It was slightly bazar; I mean yeah I was born in the 1930's but still being born only one day apart, even if it was during different time periods, at least for children of the big three.

"…And I would be right to assume you'll be turning sixteen on that day?"

"Yep…" she sighs. "…wow this really sucks."

"Tell me about it." Anya cracks a smile and stands up. She brushes her hands off on her pants and looks down the tunnel leading to the main part of the compound.

"Well I guess we'll just have to survive until then." She says it so nonchalantly. I can tell she's still upset and frazzled over the massacre in the tunnel but she was trying to move forward. I sigh and stand up beside her.

So this is it…all we had to do was survive until January and fulfil the prophecy by killing Kronos at his most powerful and preserving Olympus in the process. As Anya said "No pressure or anything."

I sigh again as we begin to walk down the tunnel towards the others.

"You know surprisingly…I feel strong even though I know I should feel overwhelmed and scared." Anya says as we walk. She looks at me. "I mean I feel scared, but not for me. I've lost so much already that losing my life in order to stop Kronos doesn't frighten me. I'm just scared for everyone else. What happens if we don't succeed like my brother? What will happen to the rest of them? You saw what Kronos did to them… what if that was just the beginning? What's going to happen to Kids like Jen and Jack if Kronos prevents the prophecy?

I grab the back of my neck. "I know this isn't the answer you want to hear… but this _is_ only the beginning. What we saw back there is only going to happen more and more often in the next two months. That's why we can't fail. No matter what."

She nods. "I know… but still… what if?"

**So the whole thing with Nico's birthday is kind of weird, apparently Rick has given Nico two Bdays: Jan 28th and May 16th, so I just chose Jan 28th for timeline purposes. BTW we will be seeing more of Jen and Jack, but latter on. Sorry for any grammar mistakes, I'm really bad about that kind of stuff. Anyways thank you so much for those of you who have been reading this so far and reviewed again I can't tell you how much it means to me when you guys let me know what you think. Please keep it up! love ya'll :P**


	7. New Toys

**Hey guys i'm back... finally. i'm sorry I haven't updated in forever, but Practice is insane. (I got setter in Volleyball BTW) anyways this will probably occur more often now with school starting in a week, i don't want to start High school, but i guess it's inevitable. (Yes i am a Freshman) i hope you like the chapter. :P**

I had always dreaded that question. What if we did fail? What if Kronos won and the world was plunged into eternal darkness? What if everything we had sacrificed meant nothing? Those thoughts sickened me.

We walked in silence for the rest of the time. Our feet kicking up dust as they dragged along the cave floor. Thoughts of failure kept racing through my mind. What if? What if? What if? I didn't know. But thankfully I wasn't the only one. Everyone had those thoughts and nobody knew that answer to any of them. I shoved my hands inside my jean pockets.

We soon reach the center of the underground cave where most of the demigods lived. I had been here multiple times since I escaped Kronos's prison and it was always full of activity and life, with demigods rushing to and fro. Others just chatting away almost like regular teenagers. Now, the place was dark and quiet. Only a few demigods were actually in the cavern, 10 to 15 at the most. These demigods were younger, some, no older than nine years old. I only saw three faces that I recognized. Nate, Jerimiah, and Bradford, the conceded bullheaded son of Ares. The first time I'd seen the guy he'd punched me in the jaw for no reason then every time after that he'd accused me of working with Kronos or doing nothing to stop him. He hated me and the feeling was mutual.

Jerimiah was the head of the Titian's Bane, he was an okay guy. Honest, trustworthy, and a bunch of other things that made him a good leader. He was a son of Athena, only three months younger than me. Bradford was standing beside him his thick black eyebrows scrunched so close together that it looked like he had unibrow. Nate was in front of them his back turned to me and Anya. I knew that Nate was explaining about our arrival and about Anya being the daughter of Poseidon. Jeremiah wasn't a person who you could surprise very easily, but the look that he had on his face when he saw me and Anya told me that he was slightly shocked.

"Come on." I say starting towards the three of them. Anya follows right behind me. She seems jumpy and on edge but I assumed it's only because of what she saw back in the tunnel. We stand before Jerimiah and he smiles.

"Welcome back Nico, I didn't expect to see you here what with Kronos's searches getting more and more frequent."

'I'm surprised you made it here alive while we got slaughtered just for being associated with you." Bradford breaks in scowling. I glare at him but he continues his rant. "I don't get why we're still helping you. In the past four months you haven't made any progress in finding a way to stop Kronos and all you've been doing is taking apart of our rations every time you come."

"Enough Brad!" Jerimiah demands. "You know as well as anyone that Nico is one of the only people in the world who have even a chance at saving us. Everyone knows that and we have to help him in any way we can."

Brad glared at Jerimiah but says nothing. He knows not to questions Jerimiah's orders. Satisfied that Brad would say quiet he turned back to me an apologetic look on his face. "So… I take it that this is Miss Anya Westfall, daughter of Poseidon."

Anya nods meekly. "It's nice to meet you." She says holding out a hand. Jerimiah takes it and smiles.

"Likewise."

The released hands and Anya stepped back behind me. Jerimiah cracked his neck and yawned. "Well I for one am ready for sleep." He said in a much more sophisticated manner than necessary. "Nico, you, Anya and your two friends are welcome to stay for as long as you need."

I nod "Thank you Jerimiah, but Anya and I will be leaving tomorrow. She and I have to keep moving otherwise Kronos will find us."

"He already did." Brad growls quietly. Jerimiah glares at him but says nothing. Only sighs and nods in understanding. He turns to Nate.

"Will you please show Nico and Anya to the storage rooms? They will need supplies for their journey."

Nate nods and starts off towards one of the storage areas. Anya follows behind him. I start after them but Jerimiah puts a hand on my shoulder. "Nico, wait a minute." I turn and see Jerimiah staring at me his face etched with worry. "Have you heard anything from the hunters as of late, or my sister?

I freeze. I hadn't seen them in almost three months. After the battle of Manhattan the hunters of Artemis had been killed off and only Artemis had survived. After that she had rounded up others to her hunt but they were never the same. They had tried to hit Kronos hard about two and a half years ago, none of the hunter were ready for the fight and things went horribly wrong. One of the hunters betrayed them to Kronos and Lady Artemis was locked in Tartarus along with all of the other "dead" gods and goddesses. The hunters were devastated but after a while they turned into the second most effective rebel group going against Kronos. They usually were my eyes and ears for what was going on outside of New York but all of the sudden they had just stopped communicating with everyone. It wasn't good but there was nothing I could do.

Jerimiah looked at me expectantly but I sighed. "No… I'm sorry. There's been nothing since August."

Jerimiah closes his eyes and clenches his fist. One of his sisters, Emma, had joined the hunters just after the battle of Manhattan and she'd become the first lieutenant of the group. I had known Emma for a long time and she was actually a close friend. I was worried about her and I knew that Jerimiah was even more so.

"Okay… thank you, but Nico?"

"Yes."

He looks like a young and worried kid rather than the leader of the Titan's Bane. "When you hear anything from them… will you please let me know? No matter what it is?" he pleads.

I grip his shoulder. "Of course Jerimiah, you'll be the first."

He lets go of my shoulder and gives me a grateful look before turning and walking in the opposite direction. I sigh. I felt useless, even though I was the person that everyone had been counting on to save them and I couldn't do anything to help even one person.

I shake my head and take off running to catch up with Anya and Nate.

0-0-0-0-0

Finding the two of them wasn't that hard, I'd been around the compound before and the storage rooms were on the far side of the caverns but getting there was easy, you only had to follow a single tunnel until it dead ended into a room filled with supplies.

At first I couldn't see Anya, only Nate standing near the entrance with an amused smile in his face, but when I got closer I could see why he was smiling. Anya was looking at the array of weapons along the eastern wall like a little kid would look at candy in a candy store window. Craving to have them all and imagining herself holding even one of them in her hands. It would have been slightly disturbing if it had been any other girl but Anya made it look… kind of hot. I could feel my cheeks turning slight red as she came running back towards them a huge smile on her face and giggling like a school girl.

She grabs hold of my hands. "Nico! Oh my gods this is amazing! There's so many of them. I've never been around this many weapons in my life!" she says excitedly.

Nate laughs. "I'm glad that someone appreciates the hard work that I do around here."

"They're beautiful!" she says looking back over her shoulder. Her hands are still intertwined with mine and my palms are beginning to sweat. Why was I reacting this way? Anya and I had only met yesterday, but the way her eyes glittered with excitement and her smile were making my senses go crazy.

"We're just friends, we had to help each other survive and fulfil the prophecy; there's no time for anything else." My rational side said trying to calm my hormones.

"Yeah right, you know you can't stop staring at her amazing legs, her shiny black hair, oh and especially her beautiful eyes." My hormones argued.

I realized that these two sides had been arguing since I had meet Anya and so far… my hormones were winning.

Nate smiled brighter at Anya's comment. "I'm glad you think so. Go ahead and choose any one you want, we've got more than we need."

Anya's eyes widened and she ran back to the weapons with renewed enthusiasm. As soon as her hands released mine I let out a breath. My hormones died down and my rationality came back forcing my emotions back down into my heart.

As Anya began inspecting each and every weapon Nate leaned against the door frame and crossed his hands over his chest. "Never seen a girl get so existed over items that can kill people." He shook his head in amusement. I chuckle and watch Anya continue to appraise the weapons.

Surprisingly she didn't take very long to find a weapon that suited her. She came back holding two dagger sized three pronged weapons along with sheaths for each one already fashioned around her waist. I'd never seen a weapon like this before; I mean they looked something like ice picks that had horns attached to the handle but aside from that I had no idea what these things could been.

Anya on the other hand seemed to know exactly what they were. She flips the weapons around her hand and smiles as the blades slice through the air. "These… these are the ones."

Nate looked at her uncertainty in her eyes. "Um… are you sure. I've never seen anyone actually kill a monster, or anything for that matter, with a pair of Sai's.

She laughs. "Of course I'm sure, the ancient Chines used these all of the time, they were mostly used for defensive purposes but when used in the right way, they can be as deadly as you want."

"Well okay… if you're sure…"

Anya smile confidently and brandished the blades. "Trust me."

Nate mumbles something under his breath, and shakes his head disbelieving. Not that I blamed him those…Sai's I guess they were called, didn't exactly scream terrifying. They looked more like oversized salad forks than actual weapons. I didn't say anything to her though as we began gathering supplies.

We didn't need very much, a few rations of food and water, one pair of clean clothes for each of us, one small canteen of Nectar, and a single bag of Ambrosia for medical purposes along with some gauss and antibacterial medicine. I shoved the supplies in my bag that I had been carrying around as Nate packs away what's left of their supplies.

"Well I guess that should hold you over, for a while at least." He says whipping the dust off of his hands.

"Thanks" Anya says clearly still excited about her new weapons.

"No problem, it's the least we can do for the two people who we're counting on to stop Kronos." I knew that Nate wasn't trying to dampen our mood but the comment made my heart sink. Anya's smile and enthusiasm diminished. Nate clearly took notice. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No…it's nothing just don't worry about it." I say quickly trying to get off the subject. My thoughts kept coming back to the questions and doubts that were lurking in the back of my mind. I didn't want to dwell on them any longer than I had to.

Anya cleared her throat trying to keep the conversation moving into another direction. "Um anyways… Nate is there a place where I can clean up a little? I mean I don't care what it is, even a bucket of cold water at this point would be amazing." She was right, we both were covered in dirt and monster dust. Anya's hair was flying all around her face and her shirt was more brown now than black. I'm sure I didn't look any better.

"Yeah sure… though you won't have to use a bucket of water. We've got running hot showers near the sleeping quarters. Nico can take you there, I've got to go finish a little project that I've been working on; hopefully if I can get it working we won't have to worry about another monster attack."

I didn't want to ask what he was working on, knowing Nate it was some sort of fire breathing bronze dragon that would rampage around the forest tearing apart anything and everything in its path. (**Hint ;) hint**) I pulled Anya out of the storage area before Nate could go into more detail.

"Yeah! Nico I wanted to know what project he was working on." Anya protested.

"Not if you want to get any sleep tonight." If you ever let Nate explain how one of his machines worked, you'd be there for hours. I speak from experience. "Just trust me."

I steer her towards the showers. The showers they have aren't exactly your standard home improvement showers, but they worked well enough. You had hot water to run and soap to wash up with, it's a heck of a lot better than taking a dip in an icy river, and again I speak from experience.

They didn't have room for separate boy and girl showers, but each one had a curtain to draw back. Luckily no one was in there at the time. "Well… um I guess you can pick whichever one you want… um… man this is awkward."

Anya smiles. "You know you're cute when you blush." My cheeks turn deeper red. She walks towards one of the showers a draws the curtain back. I let out a breath as the water squeaks on.

Fates she was pretty; even when she was covered in grime. My heart was beating a thousand times a minute. How could one girl make me feel so…weird, no that wasn't the word for it…more like twitterpated? Gods when did I turn into Bambi?

I sigh and walk into another shower on the other side of the room. Tugging off my cloths and placing my bag outside of the shower, I flip the water on and let it roll over my body. I brace my hands against the wall and breathe in the steam. The water washed away all of the dirt.

I look up and see the scars that run up my arms. My hair hangs in my eyes as I stare at the white streaks. Thankfully my skin was so pale most people didn't notice but I was always paranoid. I didn't cut myself if that's what you're thinking, (even though I can relate to people who do) no these scars were form my time with Kronos. Every scar told a story. Some very vague and distant, others like they had happened only yesterday.

I clench my fists and hang my head as my anger rose. Every time I looked at the scars I got furious, with Kronos, the gods, but mostly myself for being such a coward. My thoughts begin to drift to the day where everything went wrong, August 18th. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, everyone…

No! I tell myself as the water runs down my chest. I couldn't go down that path, not again, not here. I purse my lips together and clench my fists even tighter. Kronos was going to pay, no matter what.

I stand there for a few minutes just letting the water rundown my body and splash onto the floor. My mind goes blank for that time just letting the feeling and the sound of water fill my ears.

Soon I hear Anya turn off her water and step out of the shower. Quickly I finish washing up and do the same. I pick up my bag and throw it over my shoulder. My T-shirt is ruined so I don't bother to put it back on, but I slip on my black jeans and shove my hands deep into the pockets trying to hide the scars. Shaking my hair out I pull the curtain back.

Anya stand near the entrance wearing a black camisole that fit her perfectly and her old jeans that I now noticed hugged her body beautifully. I had to look away before I did something stupid. I take a deep breath and walk towards her trying to keep my gaze on the floor.

She's humming something as I approach. I've never heard the tune before. I take a glance and see that she's pulling her long black hair into a side braid. She catches me looking and smiles. "So what now?" she asks finishing up the braid and wrapping a ponytail holder around the end.

"Well the only thing we really can do is go to sleep unless you have another idea."

She bites her lip. "I won't have to sleep in a tree will I?" I can't help but chuckle.

"No, but they do have common sleeping areas so we're kind of stuck together." She raises her eyebrows.

"Would that be so terrible?" my mouth stops working for a moment. Her eyes are staring into mine and we're only about a foot away from each other. My heart is pounding so loudly I'm certain that she can hear it.

She smiles again and I almost lose it. "Come on Mr. 'Prince of the Underworld' I'm tired and I want to get a good night sleep while I have the chance." she turns and starts down the corridor. I follow after her like a lost puppy.

Once we enter the sleeping quarters and find only a few people are actually there. It's amazing how drastically this place has changed since I was here last.

We find a fairly large area open near the back wall, plenty of room for the two of us to sleep and still have enough room between us that we wouldn't be touching. Two mats have been laid out with blankest folded at the foot of each one.

I place the bag on my shoulder near the wall and stretch; I was grateful to have a place to sleep for the night. I knew I wouldn't sleep very well but either way I was glad I didn't have to worry about monsters pulling me out of a tree while I tossed and turned.

Anya was unfolding her blanket and preparing for bed. Looking at her was making my brain go haywire, but a question was nagging at the back of my brain.

"Anya?"

"Hmm?" she mumbles not even looking up.

"What happened back there, when you started to… you… you almost started an earthquake." Anya's hands freeze and she looks at the ground.

"I was hoping you'd forget about that."

"Well I didn't, now spill."

She sighs and stands up, brushing the dust off of her jeans. "You know I'm a daughter of Poseidon…"

"Yeah we've established that." I say.

"…and you know what Poseidon is known for…"

"Making nasty storms on the ocean, horses, fathering over powered kids. Your point?"

She clenches her fists. "He was also known to the Greeks as 'Earth Shaker'."

"So what, does this mean that every time you get pissed off you cause earthquakes?" I wasn't really surprised, I wasn't kidding when I said Poseidon fathered over powered kids and Anya was no exception.

"Well… that and I can kind of create earthquakes… at will." She says timidly. I stare at her. "It's not that uncommon actually, I'm sure Percy could have done it if he had tried." She adds hastily. I continue to stare.

She closes her eyes. "Would you stop that?!" she huffs.

"Stop what?"

"Looking at me like I'm some sort of freak! I get enough of that from other people." She hugs herself and sighs. "I'm sorry, I just don't want you to…"

"It's okay I get it." She looks up at me. "I know what it's like, being a son of Hades doesn't exactly make you popular with most demigods. Everyone either thinks I'm some super-powered hero who's going to save them or a gruesome necromancer who will kill anyone if they so much as look at me the wrong way."

I sit down on my sleeping mat and sigh. "I guess we both have problems like that." Anya nods ruefully and sits down on her mat. We stay that way for a few minutes neither of us saying a word. Being children of the big three has its perks, but it definitely has a down side.

The room is quiet, everyone else is sleeping aside from the two of us.

Anya sighs and lays down on her back so she's staring up at the dirt ceiling. "Do you ever wish we were normal?"

I look at her. "What do you mean?"

She turns on her side and props her head up and her hand. "I mean do you ever wish we were all mortal, that the gods didn't exist and none of this was real? Like it was all some huge nightmare that everyone was having and suddenly we all woke up from it?"

I think about it for a moment before answering. "Sure…I guess…I mean I hate that all of this is happening and I wish that I could rewind the clock and start over, but I wouldn't want to lose some things."

She looks at me curiously. "Like what?"

"My memories mostly, there are some that I would be happy to forget, but others…I don't know I just would hate to lose them. Like the time when I was trying to play fetch with Mrs. O'Leary." I smile at the memory, "I had thrown the Frisbee and Mrs. O'Leary had gone to get it. Percy had walked into the Arena. I tried to warn him but Mrs. O'Leary bulldozed over him on her way to return the Frisbee. He got up and looked like he'd just taken I dive into a sand pit." Anya giggled slightly but her face darkened.

"I wish I could have met him." she rubbed her arms uncomfortably.

"He would have been proud of you." A single tear escapes her eye and she wipes it away quickly.

I thought at the time that she was just sad ad missed her brother, but much latter I would realize that wasn't the case.

**yes i finally got some NicoXAnya fluff in! i'm happy. just so you know i figured out what i'm going to do with the backstories for both characters so that's going to be fun. **

**if you guys really like Percy Annabeth stories and you haven't already read this i would recommend "Fire at Will" and "Eagle Eye" by o Mischief Managed, they're amazing stories and i got hooked. **

**leave a Review and fav/follow if you haven't already, thanks again to those who have reviewed and followed already i love you all and i hope to see you guys latter! :P **


	8. Cold hands, Warm heart

**And it's finally up. i'm at home sick right no so i finally had a chance to write and update. i hate to say it, but this huge gap between chapters may become more frequent, Vball's done but Bball starts in 7 days and goes until freaking March! *sigh* i'll keep trying though i promise. love you all and thank you for being so patient. **

Somewhere around 2am I fell into a fitful sleep; low and behold, another ominous dream enters my conscious. I was looking in on a conversation. I couldn't see anything only hear voices talking.

They weren't exactly whispering so making out what they said wasn't difficult, only problem was I walked into the middle of the conversation.

"…and you're sure he doesn't suspect a thing?" Even in the darkness of my dream I could still make out the voice. Deep, ominous, full of power, and pure evil.

"Yes Lord Kronos, he has no idea." Another voice answers; lighter, familiar, and almost scared. "How should I proceed?"

Kronos chuckled darkly. "Play along as you have, the time to end the boy's life will come soon. I will contact you again when it is time to end it all." I can almost hear him smiling. "I will enjoy watching the face of that fool son of hades when he realizes one of his friends has betrayed him."

There was a pause before the other voice came back quieter and close to cracking, like the person was close to tears. "Yes my lord. He will not see it coming."

I know the voice, but I can't wrap my mind around the name and the dream switches.

I was back at Camp Half-blood, looking out over the water on the docks. The sun was high in the clear blue sky. I was wearing my black and white swim trunks my dark grey cut off T-shirt pulled over my torso. The sun felt good on my skin, my feet skimmed the top of the shinning blue water.

"Come on Nico! Jump in already!" Percy shouts. His head, shoulders, and neck the only things sticking up out of the water. Annabeth comes up behind him and shoves his head under the water her blonde hair glittering with the excess water. She smiles up at me. "You're missing out."

She shrieks with laughter as Percy comes out of the water from beneath her and throws her over his shoulder. "Put me down Seaweed brain!" she shrieks pounding playfully on his back with her fists.

"Whatever you say." Percy says with a grin, and tosses her off his shoulder back into the water. He turns to me his eyes sad, not matching his goofy grin that plastered his face. "Come ooonnn Zombie Dude, everyone else is already here, you're the only one not enjoying yourself."

Sure enough when I look up I see everyone else from camp half-blood in the water smiling, splashing, and laughing without a care in the world. I smile and stand up.

Percy's grin widens. "Yeah there we go! Finally we've missed you."

I pull of my shirt and throw it behind me not caring where it lands. I take one deep breath, pushing with all of my strength of the wooden dock I jump, tucking my legs underneath me. For just one moment I felt free and happy without a care in the world.

But as soon as my head breaks the water I feel arms grabbing at my body. I look down and see corpses pulling me farther and farther down; their cold dead hands have grips like iron. The water turns from a shimmering blue to a dark sticky red. Faces loom like shadows above me. The surface seems miles away and my body is sinking. The hands pull me further and further down. My lungs burn, my eyes sting.

"We've missed you Nico. You should have come with us. Why did you leave us? Why didn't you save us?" the voices of the campers ask in harmony, their voices like a demonic choir.

My lungs can't take it anymore, I need air. My mouth opens without my consent and the thick red liquid fills my lungs. I'm dying; my limbs are going cold, my chest feels tight. I choke and flail trying to shake the hands off of my body, but more just latch on and I start sinking faster. I try to scream but no sound comes out. I can't move now. My body is shutting down, my heart is slowing. My eyes start to droop close. My last breath of air escapes from my mouth, rising to the surface in the form of dark black bubbles.

"Come join us Nico. We're waiting for you. We'll always be waiting for you…"

0-0-0-0-0

I jerk awake gasping for air. My body is covered I a cold sweat, heart pounding.

"You okay Nico?"

I blink. Anya is squatting on the left side of my mat her hands on the floor stabilizing her and her beautiful eyes staring down at me worriedly. I sit up carefully and run my hands through my hair. My heart is still beating a million miles per hour, but I take a deep breath and relax. It was only a dream.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just… a nightmare." I reassure her. I probably should have been more embarrassed, but I could still distantly feel the water filling my lungs and choking the life out of me.

Anya doesn't seem convinced, but she doesn't press me on details and rocks back on her heels. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

I close my eyes again and try to shake the grogginess from my head. "Well… I guess as soon as I get up and packed up we'll head out."

She nods understanding, but her eyes fall to the ground and she sighs disappointed. "Alright, I'll start…I'll just… get the stuff ready then."

She stands up and walks away her head hanging slightly and her eyes glued to her feet. She's almost out the door before I speak up.

"Anya, I'm sorry, but you know we can't stay." I felt horrible about leaving. I didn't want to leave Jen and Jack here, but at the same time I knew that they were in good hands and the farther away from them we got the safer they would be.

"I know, trust me I know, but I just can't shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen." She closes her eyes and shakes her head back and forth as if trying to knock loose the feeling in her brain.

She leaves without another word and I'm left alone in the dorm room. Her words bother me. In my dream Kronos had said that the time was coming to end my life and to finish it all. Something big was going to happen soon, but I had no idea when or where.

I run my fingers through my hair, frustrated and conflicted. I curse under my breath and start getting ready. I move like a robot, packing and straightening up without consciously trying to. My limbs feel heavy and I move at a sluggish pace. Though once I have everything finished sling my back pack over my shoulder and look back from the doorway. I wouldn't be back here, even if I succeeded in the two short months I would probably never step foot back in here again. I felt a pang of sadness in my heart as I turn and walk away.

I trace my fingers along the wall, feeling my way along with my eyes closed. Every crack, every dip, every uneven surface… I've memorized them all over the years. In a weird way this place actually felt more like home than any other place ever did.

I reach the entrance cavern in a few minutes where everyone else is standing around and talking. I see Anya talking with Jerimiah and Nate near the mouth of the cavern. Her eyes are sad, but her mouth is turned up in a smile and her posture is relaxed. She's putting on a show for everyone trying to seem brave and strong. But she's not fooling me.

The crowd lets me through as I walk towards the group of three. Anya shakes Jerimiah's hand as I come behind them.

"Thank you so much… for everything. I know Nico might not seem grateful, but I know he is. He's just not the best at showing it." I smile, apparently she hadn't seen me yet.

I come up behind her. "Wow, you've only known me for two days and you're already talking behind my back." She jumps at my voice and Jerimiah chuckles.

She turns around her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Do you always sneak up on people like that?!" she yells at me. I smile a little, she was really cute when she was embarrassed.

"Serves you right, talking bad about a guy when he's not even there to hear It." she punches my arm playfully.

"Oh shut up."

My smile widens. Jerimiah is still grinning. "It's nice to see you smile for once Nico." I shrug.

"Just in a good mood I guess." He shakes his head,

"That's a miracle in itself." He says. His smile suddenly changes from joking, to serious and sad. "All joking aside, be safe out there. Come back to us alive okay; both of you." He sticks out his hand, more to seal the promise rather than to say goodbye.

I grip his hand firmly, looking into his eyes. "Gotcha, we'll see you in a couple months." I turn to Anya with pack on her shoulder her face sad, but still trying to keep up the show for everyone. "You ready." She nods, and pushes her pack further onto her shoulder.

"I was glad to have met you Anya. I hope we meet again someday." Jerimiah says offering Anya a hand. She takes his hand and smiles somberly at him.

"Same here." She turns to me. "Let's go." I nod once ready to start out on our doomed journey, but before I could take a step someone shouted out from the crowd.

"Wait! Please wait!" I whip my head around looking for the source of the outcry. A clicking sound draws my attention to the middle of the crowd. People begin to part creating a pathway wide enough for me to see the back corridor. The shadow of the corridor masks the person as they come down the corridor. "Please don't leave!" they shout again in desperation.

As they pass under the entrance I saw the bouncing blonde curls, pale skin, and bright blue eyes of Jen as she rushes toward us. I would have been relieved to see her face, smiling as brightly as the sun; that is if it hadn't have been for her missing appendage.

The clicking sound was coming from her crutches as they made contact with the tunnel floor. Her right leg trembled with effort as it tried to make up for the loss of its counterpart. She was going so fast every time she swung the crutches out and they made contact with the floor she became more and more off balance.

"Jen! You have to slow down they said you weren't allowed to walk yet!" Jack calls after her as he comes out of the tunnel. Jen doesn't listen she continues to come at us faster.

Everyone seems to be frozen in place and time almost slows down. Jen's right leg collapses from under her from exhaustion and she loses her grip on her crutches. Before I even register my body reacting I feel Jen wrap her tiny arms around my neck catching herself and landing on my chest. I fold my arms around her shaking frame.

I hold her as tight as I dare making sure that she doesn't injure herself further. My heart feels like it's being torn in two when her lips turn up in one of the brightest smiles I've ever seen. She giggles and looks at Anya behind me. "I just had to see you two and thank you both before you left." She buries her face in the crook of my neck.

I feel a tear roll down my cheek, "Jen… I'm so sorry. I should have gotten you hear sooner, then none of this would have happened. I'm sorry." I felt horrible. Another person that I cared about had gotten hurt because I wasn't strong enough to help them. How long was it going to be until I killed someone else?

"Please, don't blame yourself." I look down and see Jen's sparkling blue eyes staring up at me. "If the two of you hadn't come along I wouldn't be alive right now. You saved me and that's a debt I'll never be able to repay."

"But your leg… if I would have…"

"There's nothing you could have done. Things happen and no one can change them. You saved me from having to back to Kronos and even though I lost my leg I gained so much more. You guy's gave me hope that things still have a chance to turn out right. That others are still fighting for people like me against all odds. I haven't had a feeling of hope in a long time." She smiles at me tears welling up in her eyes. "I've never felt so sure that someone will succeed. I know the two of you will win. Just promise me you'll come back to us safely okay. I want to throw you a huge party when you get back so we can finally have some fun." She giggles again, her smile so pure and innocent.

I hug her. She was so young, so full of joy, so pure. She was the light in this dark world. I never wanted that light to leave her. I wanted her to live an amazing life and never suffer again, no matter what it took. I would make sure that she lived and would be able to spread the hope and joy inside of her to everyone she meet. "I promise." Her smile widens even more.

In that moment, holding Jen in my arm, I felt like anything was possible and that there was no way we would lose. Even as Anya and I walked out of the cavern and into the early morning light I felt invincible. The sunrise was beautiful that morning and it bathed the landscape in a golden light. The brisk breeze of on coming winter felt wonderful against my skin. Still even in the moments that we feel unstoppable someone has to pull us back to reality.

"So… what do we do now?" Anya asks.

I sigh looking at the rising sun as the colors dance over the horizon. We still had two months to go before the prophecy could be fulfilled. I smile to myself. "The same thing we've been doing. Surviving, and hoping that this will all be over with soon."

Anya nods gripping her arm. She looked sad. "The way Jen talked about us winning and giving her hope… do you really think we can do it?"

I think for no longer than a moment before answering. "Not sure, but we still have to keep going." For some reason I take a hold of her hand. "You ready?"

"Man… your cold." I laugh. She smiles, and genially laughs it's nice to hear and files my heart with something I can't really pinpoint. "Still you know what they say…"

I rise my eyebrow. "And what do 'they' say exactly?"

"Cold hands, Warm heart."


	9. AN

I just wanted to apologize for how bad I've been at updating all of my stories. I will still be continuing all of my stories, but I will be postponing all of my own story updates until after the school year! I may be helping with one story that my friend and I are writing together, but that might not even happen and it will only be on the time that both she and I have time (Which is almost never!) I don't want to do it, but I feel awful about my updating schedule and I have been really scrambling to get anything done. I had a week off of sports, but I still had absolutely no time to write and now with soccer going until the end of school, I'm not going to have any time to do anything related to my account; that is unless a miracle happens. After school ends I will also be trying to get some buffer chapters going on all of my stories so I will not be posting until maybe 2 weeks after school gets out. Again I apologize and hope that no one is to mad at me for postponing this. Please no flames about how I take forever in writing, I'm in school and trying to keep a 4.0 GPA, sports, family, friends, and still keep myself from breaking down sobbing due to how much stress I have on me. It may not sound like a lot to deal with, but trust me it is. Next year I have decided to not do Basketball, so for those few months next year I hope to be able to post and write, but unless that happens I will really be only able to post and write during the summer.

Please forgive me and be patient… I'm not giving up, that much I promise.

Thank you again to all of those who have read any of my stories and given me support including : annabethfan15, Nik1627, TheGirlreads, and Zpoink7; again thank you for being so patient.

~GatorGirl


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